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00:00Hey guys, I'm Tom of TechJab and if you're lucky enough to have one of the new consoles
00:04and you don't fancy using it with a regular TV like a normal person and you want to use
00:09a gaming monitor, is it worth paying the extra for an HDMI 2.1 enabled monitor to get that
00:16full 4K 120Hz experience or is it all just a bit of a waste of money?
00:21And if you do find this helpful then a cheeky little like and subscribe would be lovely.
00:26So this is the new ASUS TUF VG28U and it's one of a handful of new HDMI 2.1 supported
00:33monitors and there's been a lot of hype around 2.1 with these new consoles as it offers a
00:37full 4K resolution at 120Hz with 10-bit colour and 444 chroma as well as variable refresh
00:45rates or VRR and dynamic HDR.
00:48Well let's start with the big one, 120Hz, because if you've played games at 120fps or
00:54higher on a PC you'll know that it makes a huge difference to how fast everything feels,
00:59it can really give you a competitive advantage and it's absolutely worth the jump from 60.
01:04Now so far there are only a dozen or so games that support 120 on console right now and
01:09in most cases you actually have to choose in the display options like favour performance
01:14or favour framerate which effectively enables the 120fps mode.
01:19However before you throw your current HDMI 2.0 specced monitor in the bin because it's
01:23not this fancy new spec, actually don't worry because when it comes to the refresh rate
01:28even current 2.0 monitors support 120 at 1080p and 1440p.
01:33It's only 4K where you need 2.1 to get the high refresh.
01:37Also I should say that the Xbox has a bit of an advantage here as it supports 1080p
01:41and 1440p modes whereas the PS5's only non-4K option right now is 1080p.
01:48Which is actually really interesting because a lot of popular gaming monitors right now
01:51are Quad HD, 1440p and also high refresh so that would be best paired with the Xbox because
01:57you'd be able to get the 1440p and 120 over a current HDMI 2 port so you don't maybe need
02:03to buy one of these.
02:04But if you do want the best of the best and the most future-proofed monitor for your console
02:09then you probably will want 2.1 but there are a couple of issues with that.
02:14Firstly there aren't that many displays to choose from right now, also they are quite
02:17expensive.
02:18For example this Asus TUF 2.1 enabled monitor is actually one of the most affordable at
02:23about £750 but they're still not exactly cheap.
02:27Also while the list of 120Hz optimised games is growing there's still not that many and
02:33they're often just patched versions of older games.
02:35Now again Xbox has a bit of an advantage here thanks to FPS Boost which automatically doubles
02:40the FPS in backwards compatible games without needing full optimisation by the developer.
02:45So even if a game says it supports 4K and 120 they almost never support them at the
02:51same time.
02:52You kind of have to go for one or the other and it either reduces or scales down the resolution
02:56to give you that higher refresh rate.
02:58Or alternatively they just reduce the graphics settings so there's always some kind of compromise
03:02here and that's really just a limitation of the performance of these consoles.
03:06For example in Mass Effect Legendary Edition it actually drops down from 4K at 60 to 1440
03:13at 120 on the Series X to maintain a steady frame rate.
03:17But then as it's upscaled again it still needs an HDMI 2.1 connection.
03:21And even more confusingly on the PS5 the quality and the performance modes are both 60fps even
03:27with the latter's drop in resolution.
03:30Now another big upgrade with 2.1 is support for Variable Refresh Rates or VRR which is
03:36sometimes called Adaptive Sync and basically that syncs up the output from the graphics
03:40in the console to what's being displayed on the monitor to reduce screen tearing and
03:44stuttering and give you a slightly more stable gameplay experience.
03:48But I know what you're thinking, we've had Adaptive Sync for years now.
03:51Well yes, but HDMI 2.1 has it hardwired into the connection so unlike 2.0 the monitor's
03:58panel and the electronics don't actually need to support VRR or some other form of Adaptive
04:02Sync as well.
04:04If they do though then all the better as both Xboxes can use AMD's FreeSync.
04:09The bad news for PS5 owners is that VRR isn't expected to be added until the end of the
04:13year and even then games will need to be updated to take advantage of it.
04:17However that's not necessarily a reason to upgrade to a 2.1 monitor as most 2.0 gaming
04:23displays already support some kind of Adaptive Sync like FreeSync and that will work over
04:292.0 with these guys, well sorry with the Xbox for now.
04:32But it doesn't support Nvidia's G-Sync for that you need either DisplayPort or HDMI 2.1
04:38so if you want to use G-Sync with these in the future then you will need 2.1.
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05:38So 120Hz, variable refresh rate and then there's dynamic HDR, another advantage of 2.1.
05:45And this is where HDR formats like HDR10 Plus and Dolby Vision allow movies and games more
05:50granular control over lighting and contrast by varying the dynamic range metadata between
05:55scenes as opposed to older standards like HDR10 where the data is fixed.
06:00Which is great if you have a nice bright contrasty screen on your TV but as you guys
06:05know HDR monitors are less common and genuinely not nearly as good.
06:10The most recent mini LED monitors are a big step forward but again this is brand new tech
06:14and very expensive.
06:17The other issue is that while most games on console do support some form of HDR, genuinely
06:21they're the more basic kind of HDR10 standard, not say Dolby Vision or anything that would
06:26actually use that dynamic HDR support which we get with 2.1.
06:31So that may be something we see more of in the future but right now it doesn't make that
06:34much difference.
06:35Speaking of HDR though because the Xbox Series X and S do support something called Auto HDR
06:41which creates a sort of virtual HDR effect and while it's not as convincing as the real
06:45thing, it's nice to have and it does already work over HDMI 2.0.
06:50But there is one more advantage to a 2.1 specced monitor and that's the fact that we can get
06:55the 4K 120 with VRR and all that good stuff and uncompressed 10-bit colour.
07:01Both new consoles can make use of 10-bit, basically meaning games that are developed
07:05with this in mind can access a much wider range of colours, over a billion, and actually
07:09both can do compressed 12-bit colour as well but not at 120.
07:14Now if I said to you that this monitor in particular supports 444 chroma, you'll be
07:19thinking well that sounds great, what does it mean?
07:22Well a quick explainer, because normally 10-bit colour data is compressed at one of
07:26three levels, which is confusingly called chroma subsampling, but with 2.1 it can be
07:31uncompressed, referred to as 444, and this helps reduce colour banding and gives you
07:36more accurate colours overall.
07:39Again though this is something only the Xbox can do in terms of 444, the PS5 currently
07:44is limited to 442 which is still a very high data rate so you really wouldn't see the difference
07:49but again it's another technical advantage of the Xbox.
07:52The thing is, I'm only mentioning this because it is one of the new features touted as being
07:57part of this 2.1 spec and it's like a big upgrade but really I don't know how much of
08:02an impact it will have because even over HDMI 2.0 you can still get that full uncompressed
08:0810-bit colour at 120fps, at 1080p and 1440p.
08:12Again it's really only at 4K where you have to start making these compromises and where
08:162.1 really comes into its own.
08:19But in reality, it's the monitor's panel and the processing that will be the limiting
08:22factor when it comes to colours and contrast, especially as many cheaper models are only
08:278-bit.
08:29Although so far it seems this Asus TUF VG28U is the only gaming monitor that can process
08:35uncompressed 10-bit so maybe that's worth bearing in mind.
08:39And breathe, that was so much more complicated than I originally thought it would be when
08:43I wanted to make this video when Asus sent this review sample over, but to answer the
08:48question of whether you should actually buy an HDMI 2.1 monitor, I would say yes, but
08:55only if it doesn't cost you that much more than a standard 2.0 monitor and if you only
09:00want 4K.
09:02Would I buy one now?
09:03No, probably not because there really isn't that much advantage to it at the moment.
09:09Maybe in a few months, maybe in a few years when more games are developed and optimised
09:12for the higher refresh rates and the higher resolution and we see dynamic HDR being taken
09:17advantage of a bit more, but right now most games are still targeting 60 and those that
09:22do have a 120 option then reduce the resolution anyway, so it's not that important.
09:28So for most of you guys, I would argue going for a good 1080p or 1440p high refresh 120,
09:35165Hz monitor with FreeSync and if possible decent HDR support is a much better and also
09:41much cheaper option.
09:43And specifically 1080p is fine for the PS5 because it doesn't have that 1440p option,
09:47but if you do have a quad HD monitor then you will get some benefit with a Series X.
09:52And I think most importantly, good HDR performance is a much bigger deal than 4K and usually
09:57this comes down to the panel more than it does the particular HDR format.
10:01So spending more on a screen with better HDR performance, i.e. brightness and contrast,
10:06in my opinion will give you a much better image quality for your buck.
10:10And lastly, if you were wondering is there any way to connect a console to a gaming monitor
10:14via DisplayPort which gives you pretty much all the advantages near enough of HDMI 2.1,
10:20technically yes, but there are some quite significant limitations like it tops out at
10:24120fps at 1080p or 4K 30 and it doesn't support VRR when you're using an adapter, so really
10:30I would just stick with HDMI.
10:32So what do you reckon?
10:33Have I tempted you to upgrade to 2.1 or have I convinced you it's not really worth it yet?
10:37Let me know what you're thinking in the comments below and also what setup you're using in
10:40terms of TV or monitor for your console.
10:44Thank you so much for watching guys, don't forget to hit that subscribe button and I'll
10:46see you next time right here on The Tech Chat.